27 Truths: Ava's story (The Truth About Love Book 1) (12 page)

“Better?”

“Yeah,” I say.

“What’s the deal with T?”

I look up at him. “What?”

Again, he smirks and chuckles. Then he leans back and puts my head on his chest.

I close my eyes and wait and wait and wait for Liam’s calm to overtake me.

When I feel almost human again, I look up at him. “Love you.”

“You, too.” He kisses my head. “Now, let’s go not face whatever it is we’re not facing.”

“Do we have to?”

He stands up and holds out his hand just like Logan does. “Yeah, we do.”

We hold hands as we walk toward the house exactly like we used to.

Liam was the smart, preppy kind of hot nerd in school. I made him cool, and he made me behave. He is my male Harper.

“Tell me about Martha.”

“You mean Marta.” He smirks.

“Yes.” I smirk back. “Marta.”

“We have a lot in common: likes, dislikes, goals, desire to travel—”

I can’t help giggling.

“What?”

“Does she make you crazy?” I ask.

“I avoid crazy, Ava.”

“Does she get you all worked up?”

“Ava …” he warns.

“Are you happy?” I ask, conceding to Liam’s profound dislike for talking about sex.

“I am. Are you?”

I smile. “Aren’t I always?”

“I hope so,” he says sincerely.

When we walk in, T scowls at me, and my dad notices immediately. His jaw sets, and he shakes his head.

Tessa nudges him with her elbow and pats the spot next to her at the huge table.

After lunch, Piper is heading to take a nap.

“I want Ava.”

“Ava is going to stay down here, sweet girl,” Maddox says, kissing the side of her head.

“But I want her. She’s tired.”

I lean over toward Harper. “I really wouldn’t mind.”

Harper smiles. “She and Maddox are fine.”

“No, Mommy, I’m not fine,” Piper says, and the whole room gasps. “Ava is not fine. We need a nap.”

It doesn’t take me but a second to stand. I’m in a room filled with three men I have slept with, and it’s fucking exhausting.

“I would have to say I agree that Ava needs a nap if you don’t mind, Maddox.”

He looks at Piper. “You have something to say to your mommy?”

“Sorry.” She looks down sadly.

“Do you have something to ask Ava?” he asks her.

“Wanna take a nap with me?”

“I’d love to.”

***

I wake to Piper whimpering and thrashing, and I don’t know what to do, so I hold her.

“Shhh, it’s okay.”

“Ava?” she says with her eyes still closed.

“Yes, it’s okay,” I tell her as she shakes in my arms.

“You’ll be okay,” she whispers. “It’s okay.”

I look up when both Maddox and Harper walk in the room.

Maddox slides in next to her on the other side of the bed. “Come here, Piper.”

She sighs and rolls into his arms while I slide out of bed and look at Harper who looks concerned.

“She okay?”
I mouth.

She nods once, and then I follow her out into the hallway.

“She’s been having dreams. Night terrors is what the doctor says they are. Perfectly normal.”

“That’s perfectly normal?” I gasp.

She shakes her head and shrugs. “It’s terrifying.”

“How did you hear her? Was she loud? Did I sleep through that?”

She slightly smiles. “Maddox has a monitor on his hip at all times. He heard her.” I follow her into hers and Maddox’s room, and she flops on the bed. “It’s exhausting.”

I flop down next to her. “I’m exhausted, and I didn’t even know about it.”

“The holidays,” she says.

I take her hand and squeeze it. Her father was killed at this time of year while saving her life. I know how hard it is for her. “I’m sorry.”

“I know,” she whispers.

“Everything all right?” Maddox asks quietly as he walks into the room.

“Everything’s great,” Harper says, taking his hand, and he pulls her up.

I raise mine, and he looks at me, shaking his head. He reaches out and pulls me up, too.

“Thank you, Maddox Hines.”

“You’re welcome, Ava.”

He and Harper then walk hand in hand out the door.

Once downstairs, we walk into the living room where Liam is watching Dad look at T. T is looking at Luke, and Luke isn’t looking at a damn thing.

Liam then looks at me, and both of us laugh.

All eyes turn to me then Liam.

“Come here, Ava, and have a seat,” he says to me.

“Will your girlfriend be here soon?” T asks, and Liam looks at him then me then back at him.

“Not tonight. She’s with her family,” Liam says kindly.

“Are you in love with her?” T asks before taking a drink.

I want to crawl under a rock. The couch may work.

“We’ve been dating for four months,” Liam answers in the same even tone.

Luke chuckles, and T looks at him crossly.

“And you?”

“I’m in love with my country,” Luke says in a far too smug way.

“Interesting,” T says back just as smugly. Then he looks back at Liam, “And how long have you been in love with—”

“T,” Maddox says, and T looks at him. “I could use some help in the kitchen.”

T stares at him, and Maddox stares back at T.

“Now please.”

“Well, Ava, what do you think now?” Dad asks when the door slams.

I look at him, and he cocks his head in an I-told-you-so style. Then I look at Tessa, who looks down and whispers something.

Luke stands up and walks to the kitchen, and Liam looks over at me and whispers, “You gonna do something about that?”

“About what?”

The door slams again. “That,” he says.

“Do you think—”

He nods.

“You go.”

He looks at me and shakes his head.

“Yes.”

“You owe me.” He stands up and walks out the door.

“See, Ava, he’s trouble. Even the boys know that,” Dad states.

I look at Tessa, whose eyes are closed tightly. God, what must she think of me?

I stand up. “I have to pee.”

I stand at the kitchen window, watching as Liam and Maddox stand in front of Luke and T who both have their fists balled. I am embarrassed and angry that my heartbreak and indiscretions are on display.

“What’s going on?” Harper asks, standing next to me and then, “Oh. Oh, my. That doesn’t look good.”

“Would you be upset if I went home?”

“You want to leave?” she asks.

“Yes. Yes, I do.” I nod.

“Because of Luke and Liam?”

“Because I feel like shit and because that mess out there will simmer down and because I am completely exhausted.”

“Hey, Ava,” Harper says quietly. When she talks like that, it’s because she doesn’t want to say what she needs to. “If something is happening with you and Thomas, just be careful.”

“Be careful?” I gasp. “Why? Is something wrong with him?”

She shakes her head. “He really likes you.”

“I kind of like him, too. But not right now.”

With that, I run and kiss Dad, telling him I will see him in the morning.

Before he can say anything, Tessa grabs his hand and tells me, “Drive safe and get some sleep.”

I give Harper a kiss on the cheek before I leave, telling her, “Tell Piper I love her, and I’ll see her soon, okay?”

I walk outside where all four men look at me. Three of them, I have slept with. I look away and walk toward the SUV.

“Ava!” Liam yells.

“Have a good night,” I say, continuing to walk.

“Ava, you don’t have to leave,” my dad’s voice is now in the mix, and I am almost starting to run. “She’s home for the holidays, and you have her running,” I hear him snap.

“
I
have her running?”

I stop and turn around when I hear T’s voice.

“Yes,
you
have her running,” Dad snaps back.

I look at them, seeing Liam is the only one who notices me. He mouths “go,” and I shake my head, walking back to them.

“I came outside. It’s these two who—”

“T,” I snap, and he looks up. “You drive here?”

“Of course I drove here.”

“You been drinking?”

He looks away.

I sigh. “Come with me.”

“Ava …” Dad says.

“No, Dad.” I shake my head then look at T. “You coming?”

“Is that what you want?” he asks.

I nod. “Yes.” I then pull my keys out of my pocket and toss them to Liam. “Can you give these to Harper and tell her I’ll be back for them?”

“When will you be back?” Dad asks.

“I don’t know, Dad,” I tell him before looking at T who is standing beside me. “Keys?”

He hesitates.

“Keys, now.”

He huffs and hands them to me.

“Let’s go.”

“If you hurt her, you and I will have problems,” my father warns.

“He’s not gonna hurt her,” Maddox defends T.

“He better not,” Dad snaps.

We walk toward his Land Rover, and I hit the unlock. T climbs into the passenger side, and I get in the driver’s seat.

“Can you drive stick?” he asks.

“Of course I can,” I say as I grind the gears into reverse.

“She’s terribly sorry,” he says as he pats the dashboard.

“No, she’s not.” I purposely grind into drive and floor it so we drive over the bank of snow that was plowed to clear the driveway.

“Ava, please take it easy on her,” he says, and I can’t help laughing. “Matilda, she doesn’t mean it.”

I spin the tires, throwing snow behind me as the vehicle fishtails.

“Ava, for fuck’s sake!” T pulls his seatbelt down, buckling it. Then he reaches over and tries to grab mine.

I bat away his hand.

“I’m gonna have to insist you put that fucking thing on now, Ava,” he says.

I glare at him, and he glares back.

“I’m not fucking kidding.”

I grind into second, yelling, “Don’t ever do that shit to me again!”

“By shit, I assume you mean questioning Luke and Liam’s intentions?”

“It’s none of your business, T!”

“I fucking laid it all out to you last night! I asked that you not lie to me!”

“I didn’t lie to you!”

“It’s obvious that you and Luke—”

“It’s not obvious, and it’s not something I will discuss!”

“I don’t accept that,” he sneers.

“Then accept this: when you left this morning, I was ready to look away from my … past. When you sent that gift, I was more than ready. When my dad questioned me about you, I stuck up for you, for me, for us. I am so sorry that I didn’t return your text—I am going through some things—but when I say I’m done, when I said I wanted you, I was sincere. I trusted you! Tonight, you blew that out of the water. You made me feel stupid in front of all of them. And let me tell you, I am going through hell right now, and you, you made it worse!”

He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t even look at me.

“Fuck you, T. Fuck. You!”

Twenty silent minutes later, I pull into the Statler Hotel. I grind the gears, putting the vehicle in park and killing the engine.. Then I turn and look at him.

“My key is at Maddox and Harper’s,” he says matter-of-factly.

I pull the one he sent me out of my bra. “Take mine.”

“I can’t. I gave it to you.” He lifts his chin in the air.

Fucking Brit!

“I don’t know how they do things in England, but here, you can ask for another key card at the front desk,” I snap.

“I’ve traveled a bit,” he says sarcastically.

“I’m well aware of your travels,” I retort.

He turns and looks at me, not saying a word, and then says, “If you would rather be with the farm boy or the toy soldier with the personality of a fucking mop, just let me know. I, too, can find companionship.”

“Veterinarian and a fucking career soldier who keeps your ass from speaking German! How dare you?” I toss the keys at him and get out of his vehicle.

His door slams at the same time as mine, and then he is immediately at my side as I walk down the slush-covered sidewalk.

“Listen to me, Ava!”

I look around as people walking by slow down and stare.

“You’re causing a scene,” I growl at him.

“You’re the crazy person walking in the freezing cold, and to where, Ava? Home? It’s fifteen minutes from here in a damn vehicle going a hundred and ten kilometers.”

“I’d rather freeze than deal with you.” I continue walking.

“Deal with me? I’m fucking Thomas Hardy. Women line up to meet me, Ava, just like you did the first time we met!”

Shocked, I look around and see everyone staring.

I slap him across the face. “You go fuck yourself!”

He doesn’t even flinch. “Not necessary.”

“When I walk away, don’t follow me.”

“Unbelievable!” he says, raising his hands in the air. “You are unbelievable.”

“Yep, sure am.” I walk down the sidewalk as people still stare.

“Leave it to me to fall for a crazy woman.”

I raise my arm up, and he laughs loudly.

“You aren’t in NYC, Ava Links. There are no cabs here!”

A car pulls over, and I flip him off. As I get in, he runs and stops me from shutting the door.

“Are you insane? Do you know what can happen to you, Ava!”

“Is that T Hardy?” Maxi asks.

“Yes, and he’s a fucking asshole.”

“What did I do?” he asks, his voice full of emotion.

“If you can’t figure it out, there is something seriously wrong with you.” I look away. “Maxi, can you please take me home?”

“You know her?” he asks.

“We went to high school together. Me, Ava, and Harper—”

“Maxi, please,” I plead.

“Right, well, nice meeting you, Thomas Hardy,” she says.

“You, as well. Ava—”

“No. No. No. No.”

***

I lie in bed, and every time I close my eyes, I see his face: his anger, his jealousy, his smugness, and so many more emotions I can’t even begin to understand.

I grab my phone and google Thomas Hardy. The writer and poet and the actor Tom Hardy pop up on Google, and so does T.